Ketone prone and coming off pred...... need advice

[nancy and payne]

If you remember my ketone/DKA prone cat Payne, we are doing really well!
Payne was Dx 10/11/10 and had DKA three times. She was also Dx IBD and put on
pred. 5mg. once a day. We use ProZ and have high BG #'s always. Recently we
tried TR but found that was too much insulin, but what we did learn was she
thrives on t.i.d. I have been slowly decreasing the pred. 1st. 2.5 daily then 2 wks.
later every other day. We have been doing that for 2 wks. and she has not had
any for 3 days and I seen 2 YELLOWS so far today!! Never have we seen that. Plus
the big swings up are tapering off, can I safely stop the pred. now? Thanks.

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Wow, Nancy, you have gotten a real education in PZI. and IBD. I am sorry; I don't know the answer to your question. I think I would ask on Health too - maybe with a subject line like Quitting Pred?

 

[carolynandlatte]

I have never used pzi, but my cat used pred (for ibd/lymphoma) for 1.5yrs. We had to go up/down on her dose a lot, and tried quitting for a while once it caused the FD (tried leukeran as an alternative). The e/o day sounds good, but stopping cold after that...Im not sure. I always went e/o day, than every 2-3 days, etc because I didnt want to risk cutting it too quickly. You have to be very careful when coming off pred. I would not feel comfortable telling you exactly how. That is best for you and your vet to determine.

IF you have not already, Please consult your vet for the appropriate way to reduce/get off pred.

If IBD symptoms continue, maybe discuss the use of budesonide instead of prednisolone. It often has a lessened effect on BG's.
IBD symptoms will come and go, so its likely treatment will need to be continued on/off, if not on a daily basis.

Its great you are seeing some lower BG's w/o the pred! Maybe with a great reduction or a switch, less insulin will be needed at some point.

 

[Anonymous]

Nancy I suspect coming off pred will be reducing the #'s...but how much time that will take is uncertain. So I'm guessing a nice amount of testing is iin order. I would research diabetes and steroid use as a guideline. i was on pred for a few months and am not diabetic but my bg's ran high while on and immediatly when off witin 3 days i was back to normal.
of course this is different as payne is diabetic and there metabolisms are different.
i would think the key would be in the testing.